Council Services

Council Structure

Selwyn District Council serves a fast-growing population of approximately 35,000 (estimate, June 2006) distributed over many farms and small towns.

The Council consists of 11 elected representatives – a mayor and 10 councillors - who are voted in by residents and ratepayers every three years.  The elected representatives are drawn from four wards: Malvern (main town Darfield); Selwyn Central (main town, Rolleston); Springs (main town, Lincoln); and Ellesmere (main town, Leeston).

The District Council is actually the second tier of local government.  Above it are:

• the Canterbury Regional Council (known as Environment Canterbury) which encompasses 11 South Island local authorities from Kaikoura to Waitaki and whose elected members set the policies for managing the air, water and land environment throughout the Canterbury Region; and 

• the Canterbury Area Health Board, whose elected members set the policies for managing Canterbury's public hospitals and related services. 

Below the District Council is a third tier of local government - the community board.  Two of Selwyn's four wards have community boards - Malvern and Selwyn Central.  These boards are delegated by the Council to oversee certain local services and facilities, in collaboration with their local advisory committees (see below).  The Ellesmere and Springs wards have no community boards.  Council oversees their local services directly, in collaboration with local advisory committees.

Below the community boards is the fourth tier of local government in Selwyn - the local advisory committee.  Local advisory committees include township or residents committees, hall management committees and reserve management committees.  These committees advise Council on service and facility needs in their town or community. 

Council Offices

The main council offices are in the new headquarters complex at 2 Norman Kirk Drive, Rolleston. The Council also maintains a service desk in the libraries at Lincoln, Rolleston and Leeston as well as a service centre in Darfield.

Council Finances and Rates

Unlike many local authorities, the Selwyn District Council runs a healthy fiscal surplus, aided partly by the increase in new homes and ratepayers in the district and partly by careful spending and profitable investments in electricity (Orion Ltd), forestry (Selwyn Plantation Board) and construction (SICON Ltd.) 

Rates are based on a mix of property taxes (e.g. for roading and other public good services), uniform charges (e.g. for library and refuse collection services) and user-pays charges (e.g. for water supplies and sewerage systems).

Council Subcommittees

Council has the following subcommittees:

• Executive Committee: The Mayor plus two councillors

• CEO's Performance Review Committee: The Mayor and Deputy Mayor plus four councillors

• District Plan Hearing Panels: Two to three members appointed ad hoc by the Chief Executive or his delegate

• Animal Control and Stock Droving Committee

Council Portfolios

Each Councillor has a portfolio of Council matters that they are responsible for. The portfolios are grouped thematically as follows:

• Community Services (Culture, Recreation, Social)

• Water and Waste (ECan Land Drainage, Land Drainage, Sewerage, Water, Water Races)

• Roads and Townships (Road Safety, Roading and Transport)

• Regulatory (Building Acts, District Plan, Forestry, Reserves, Land, Buildings, Halls and Housing, Leisure Facilities, Liquor Licensing, Resource Management, Rural Fire, Urban Development Strategy)

• Finance and Audit (Electoral reform, Employment and Economic Development, Funding and budgets, Information technology, Investment Properties)

• Solid Waste (Landfills, Refuse and Recycling collections)

• Appointments and Nominations (Canterbury Museum Trust Board, Canterbury Neighbourhood Support, Christchurch Little River Railway Trust, Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee, Coleridge Habitat trust, Engineering Design Services, Hazardous Waste Working Party, Joint Standing Committee-Waste, LGNZ/Zone 5, Regional Council Land Transport Committee, Selwyn and Banks Peninsula District Council Roads, Safety Trust, Summit Road Protection Authority, Summit Road Society)

• Project teams and Working Parties (HQ Working Party, Izone - Selwyn Industrial Park)

• Community Board Appointments (Malvern Area Community Board, Selwyn Central Community Board)

Community Boards

Community Boards take care of local issues under delegated authority from the Council. Their members are elected at the same time as the Council elections, which are held every three years.

The Malvern Community Board has six members, one of whom is a district councillor (the two ward Councillors share this role, each serving an eighteen month term).

The Selwyn Central Community Board has five members, one of whom is a district councillor (the three ward Councillors share this role, each serving one year each as a member of the board).  

Local Advisory Committees

Township and Residents Committees

Each township and rural community has a local advisory committee elected every three years at a specially convened public meeting. The purpose of the committee is to consult with its community and relay local concerns and preferences to the Council or Ward Board. Township services and beautification projects are generally undertaken in conjunction with, or at the behest of, local township committees.

Hall and Reserve Committees

Community halls and public reserves in each area are run by local hall committees and reserve committees with funding and support from the Council.  These committees are elected every three years at specially convened public meetings. 

Click here to find local advisory committees and their chairpersons and secretaries.

   Email webmaster@selwyn.govt.nz with queries about this website.